Picker stick



Aug. 12, 1952 J, J. cox

PICKER STICK Filed March 29, 1950 Y E N R O n A Patentecl Aug. 12 1952 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE ,1

a Y 2,606,576 r PICKER s'rIoK 7 Joseph J. cox, High Point, N. 0. Application March 29, 1950, Serial No. 152,663

1 Claim. (01. 139-157 The invention relates to improvements in picker sticks for looms. Such sticks are adapted to be intermittently vibrated at high speed in a vertical plane for the purpose of actuating a shuttle at timed intervals, as is well known in the art, and to this end the sticks are pivotally connected adjacent their lower ends to a fixed bracket or rocker arm carried by the loom frame, while the upper end of the stick is adapted to engage a picker member which in turn is adapted to propela shuttle. The picker stick is actuated by means of a sweep stick connected to the picker stick through a lug strap which engages the picker stick intermediate its ends, generally at a point about eleven inches above the lower end of the stick and moves the picker stick forwardly to propel the shuttle. The stick is adapted to be returned to its rearward position by means of a suitable spring acting on the lower end of the picker stick below the pivot generally through a flexible strap, one end of which is secured to the rear edge of the picker stick adjacent its lower end.

In picker sticks for looms cheapness, lightness, resilience, strength and durability are important factors. Picker sticks originally were made of posed tend to decrease rather than increase the natural resilience of the hickory stick. Metal picker sticks have also been proposed, but these are expensive, heavy, are lacking in the resilience of a hickory picker stick, and may cause breakage of the loom in case anything goes wrong with the mechanism as a Whole.

I have found that by adhesively securing flexible strips, preferably indurated or vulcanized fiber strips, to opposite edge portions only of the stick, the whip action and natural resiliency of the wooden stick are'retained, the tendency of the stick to split is overcome, and the period of wear is increased to a remarkable degree Without materially adding to the over all cost of the stick. Various types of flexible-reinforcing strips, characterized by resilience, durability, and-ability to form substantially an integral part of the stick when secured thereto by suitable adhesive may be employed. For thispurposeindurated or vulcanized fiber strips have proved most satisfactory since they possess the necessary toughness, wear resistance and flexibility, and when secured to plain hickory wood, and the majority of picker sticks are still made of this material, hickory having as one of its characteristics great resilience to bending impact, and a natural tendency to whip back and recoil. Such sticks are generally made thicker at the lower or pivoted end and taper or are reduced toward the upper end in order to provide greater resilience at their upper ends and also to insure proper fit with that part of the picking mechanism engaging the shuttle. As a result of this taper there is a tendency for the stick to split due to the opening of the grain of the wood where it runs out to an edge of the stick at any point and a crack tends to develop from that part back into the wood.

Various attempts have been made to overcome this defect, but in general the proposed solutions have materially increased the cost of the stick or have resulted in other disadvantages. For example, metal reinforcement of the edges of the stick have been proposed but this increases the weight and cost but does not satisfactorily pre-. vent splitting of the wood. Various coverings for the entire stick have also been proposed, but this also unduly increases the cost of the stick without satisfactorily correcting the defect in that the covering as previously applied does not form an integral part of the stick. It has also been proposed to split the stick lengthwise for a portion of its length and to insert a fiber strip in the slot for the purpose of decreasing the tendency to split, but such arrangements as have been prothe edges of the stick by adhesives such as are Well known in the art and used, for example, in attaching fiber to loom shuttles, a bond is secured which is as strong as or stronger than the bond of the wood itself, so that the reinforcing strips become in effect integral parts of the picker stick, and fully protect the edges of the Wooden portion of the stick from end to end. The invention is not limited to the use of any particular adhesive as many adhesives suitable for the intended purpose are available on the market.

Vulcanized fiber is a chemically converted cotton cellulose and is an article of commerce well known in the art. A suitable vulcanized fiber for the purpose of the present invention is the type furnished by the National Vulcanized Fibre Company, of Boston, Massachusetts, under the heading Shuttle Fibre. This grade is one of medium density, high ply adhesion and high resistance to abrasion. .It is made of rag base composition, has a density or specific gravity of 1.18 to 1.35 and a moisture content of from 5% to 8%.

. With reference to the adhesive employed, many well known adhesives obtainable on the market may be employed, particularly such adhesives as are used, for example, in attaching fiber to loom shuttles. Among the adhesives suitable for this purpose are casein glues and urea resin adhesives. As an example of the first type reference may be had to the product manufactured by the Borden Company, Chemical Division, 350 Madison Avenue, New York, N. Y., known as Casco Grade A. Asan example of the second type, that is to say, urea type resin adhesive, reference is made to "Cascomite Urea Resin Glue No. 14, also manufactured by the Borden Company, Chemical Division.

The invention will be more readily understood by reference to the accompanying drawing and the following detailed description, in which a specific embodiment of the invention is set forth by way of illustration rather than by way of limitation.

In the drawing:

Fig. 1 is a front elevation largely diagrammatic in character, showing the conventional mounting of a picker stick upon a loom;

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of a picker stick embodying my invention;

Fig. 3 is an edge view of the same, taken along the rear edge of the stick; and

Fig. 4 is a section on line 4-4 of Fig. 2.

Referring to Fig. 1 of the drawing the pickei stick is indicated generaly at A and is pivoted at IU near its lower end to a fixed rocker arm or the like B forming apart of the loom frame. The picker stick A is adapted to be intermittently actuated in one direction, in a vertical plane, through the medium of a lug clamp C which in one form of the device is secured to the stick about eleven inches from the lower end of the stick, assuming that the over all length of the stick is about thirty-six inches. The lug clamp is adapted to be connected through a sweep stick D with the power mechanism of the loom. Return movement may be effected through a suitable spring connected to the edge of the stick A at its lower end through a strap E secured to the stick by a screw l I. As the picker stick is swung forwardly or to the left as indicated in Fig. 1, a portion of the leading edge l2 near the upper end of the stick contacts a movable picker member, which in turn propels a shuttle S. On the return stroke the rear edge l3 of the stick contacts a fixed stop member, which contact exerts a considerable strain on the picker stick and tends to cause splitting along the rear edge, in the case of an'ordinary hickory stick. It will also be apparent that in an ordinary stick wear occurs near the top along the front or leading edge where the stick engages the picker element. Also, in an unclad stick the grain of the wood is crushed by the lug clamp, and this crushing tends to start a crack resulting in the failure of the entire stick. It will also be apparent that during the forward movement of the stick impact of the upper end thereof with the picker places the leading edge I2 of the stick under tension and the rear edge l3 under compression, the reverse being true on the back stroke. By having the two edges 12 and I3 fiber clad, and the fiber attached to the edges by a suitable adhesive which makes the fiber substantially an integral part of the stick, the inherent possibility of the grain of the wood opening and developing into a crack under these stresses and strains is greatly diminished,

and the stress or strain which would otherwise be concentrated at one spot or location is instead diffused or spread along the whole length of the fiber.

The improved picker stick is shown more in detail in the remaining Figs. 2 to 4, inclusive.

Such stick, as shown includes a wooden portion 20, which may be of conventional size and shape, the leading edge of which is indicated at I2, and the rear edge at [3, while the sides thereof are indicated at 2| and 22, the grain of the wood being indicated in Fig. 2 as transverse to the planes of the sides and roughly parallel to the lead edge [2. In accordance with my invention the front and rear edges l2 and I3 are protected by strips 23 and 24 of vulcanized fiber adhesively secured to the edges in such a manner as to be substantially integral therewith. The sides 21 and 22 need not be covered with fiber as this simply adds to the expense without increasing the life or efficiency of the stick, and in fact would result in an undesirable rigidity, detracting from the normal flexibility of the stick.

In the usual hickory picker stick the stick is rectangular in cross section but is normally thicker at the lower end than at the upper end. Generally the stick is of substantially uniform cross section for a substantial distance from the lower end, the tapering being effected by beveling or inclining the upper portion of the rear edge l3 from a point indicated at 25 to the upper end of the stick.

The leading or front edge [2 of the stick is preferably straight from end to end and cut substantially parallel to the grain of the wood. The stick may be provided with the usual transverse opening 30 near the lower end thereof to permit attachment to the rocker arm B of the loom, and may be reinforced by suitable transverse bolts 3! and 32 inserted below and above the opening 38. The rear edge I3 may be slightly rounded as at 33, the lower end thereof to accommodate the flexible strap E, and is provided with an aperture 34 to accommodate the screw II by means of which the end of the strap is attached to the stick.

By way of example I have described in detail one form of picker stick which is in common use, to which my improvement is applicable, but it will be obvious that the reinforcing strips may be applied to the edges of wooden picker sticks of other configuration, the important feature being to apply the strips to the edge of the stick in such manner as to diffuse the stresses and strains along the whole length of the strip to prevent the grain of the stick from opening and developing cracks as the result of such stresses and strains.

The invention has been described in detail for the purpose of illustration, but it will be obvious that numerous modifications and variations may be resorted to without departing from the spirit of my invention.

I claim:

A picker stick for looms comprising a wooden picker stick portion having leading and rear edges whose surfaces are substantially flat planes, and vulcanized fiber reinforcing strips adhesively secured to said fiat surfaces and covering substantially the entire surfaces of the leading and rear edges of the wooden picker stick portion.

JOSEPH J. COX.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,440,181 Muller Apr. 20, 1948 2,503,711 Bullard et a1. Apr. 11, 1950 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 327,465 France Dec. 24, 1902 458,366 France Aug. 4, 1913 602,993 Great Britain June 7, 1948 

